Breakfast
by TheMoonclaw
Summary: Just a normal morning for the not so normal Cuore... -This is pointless, but cute-


**Because I wanted to write something cute...**

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Cuore groggily opened her eyes, the songs of birds outside her window chirping waking her. The drapes covering her window weren't completely closed, and a shaft of light poured in through the opening, covering a spot on her floor with golden light.

Normally mornings in Mist were beautiful to Cuore, but she hadn't slept well the night before, and as the remains of her nightmares clung to the recesses of her mind, she found herself glaring at the sunlight and the birds beyond.

It was, of course, illogical to harbor ill-will towards the light and the birds as they had not caused her trouble.

Cuore curled into a tighter ball, bundled under her covers, and buried her head in her pillow as tears stung her eyes. The dreams had been getting better the longer she'd been in Mist, but recently they had returned with force.

The Maenads had transferred all their knowledge and memories to her before they perished with the creature that had created them, and in her incomplete vessel she was unable to process the complex sensations. They had tried to give her too much.

Cuore sniffed, knowing that the nightmares were merely fragmented memories of other Maenads, pieces of their lives and of the information the Creator had stored, but they felt so real.

She felt like she was there, instead of some other Maenad. She felt as though she was re-living what they had already gone through. Memories of other worlds, of other places, other times...

Cuore sat up abruptly, annoyed, and tossed the covers aside. She had spent the first few weeks of her time here on this world running to the woman who had taken her in whenever she had one of these relapses. But the constant torment of them meant that every night she was bothering the summoner, and after a while, Cuore began to feel guilty for bothering her.

Rydia never said anything. She accepted the late and sleepless nights but Cuore wondered if she was just faking that it wasn't getting to her.

How could it not? If Cuore was exhausted every day, surely Rydia was too.

But instead of waking her last night, Cuore had tried to go back to sleep with limited success. She'd dozed for a few minutes here and there, but mostly she had lain awake trying to sort through the emotions and memories.

The little girl sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly, sliding from the bed and shivering once her bare feet hit the wooden floor. Her room was sparse, she supposed, especially in comparison to the other village's children.

However, Cuore liked it the way it was. Everything was orderly with no overly bright colors and needless items lying about.

Cuore reached behind her and took one of the thinner blankets from her bed, wrapping it around her shoulders before pattering to the door and opening it. The door right across from hers was already opening, proving Rydia was already awake.

Cuore paused at the top of the stairs and listened for a moment, hearing snippets of a conversation from below.

She frowned and walked down a few steps, curious as to who would be visiting the summoner. If it was one of the villagers, Cuore would wait until they left before she appeared.

Somke of them weren't too keen on the fact that Rydia had taken her in to begin with, and the little girl felt too drained to deal with them this morning.

Luckily, the voices below sounded far more pleasant and she hurried down the rest of the steps, glad to recognize the voice.

Cuore spent a great deal of time observing the way humans interacted with one another. She watched and tried to mimic so she could adapt to life on this world. So she paused at the base of the stairs and decided to observe for a moment before making herself known.

Besides, the way these two humans interact with each other confused and fascinated her.

"I can't believe you just wander into my house," Rydia was complaining, appearing to straighten up the living area of the house as she spoke.

"I've been telling you to lock your doors forever." Edge retorted, frowning at her.

She tossed one of the throw pillows at him, "And I've told you there's no need!"

"That's what everyone says until something bad happens." he muttered, throwing the pillow back at her.

Rydia stood and scowled at him, hands on her hips, "But I hate it when you just…show up."

"You don't like seeing me?" he asked, sounding whiney.

She groaned and walked by him swiftly, "I didn't say that!" She stepped into the adjunct kitchen, adding, "Sometimes I think you hear what you want to hear and not what I say,"

"Well, I'm sorry you think you understand what I said, but I don't think you understand that what you think I said, wasn't what I said."

Rydia stopped and turned around slowly, making a face, "What?"

Edge just chuckled at her and she frowned again.

Cuore blinked, peering around the half-wall to continue watching them. This 'love' everyone talked about was strange, she thought. These two would constantly argue, a common occurrence among people who disliked each other, she thought. But then the next minute they were kissing, a common occurrence, she understood, in people who liked each other.

"_Humans are so contradictory_…" she thought, frowning gently and still trying to wake up.

Rydia was back to fussing with all the odds and ends in the house, and Edge sat at the kitchen table, asking after a moment, "Are you going to make breakfast?"

The summoner looked over her shoulder, annoyed, "I just woke up!"

"So, no?"

She sighed and turned around, "Since when are you a morning person?"

"Actually, I'm still on Eblan's time. It's like…three in the morning over there." Edge countered.

Rydia shook her head and replied, "I'm not making anything until Cuore is up,"

Cuore sighed and hopped from her hiding spot, despite the fact that they are actually walked right by her previously, "I am already awake."

"Cuore!" Rydia said, sounding surprised but smiling down at her, "How are you this morning?"

The little girl hesitated, unsure how to answer, and her pause made Rydia's expression turn worried, "Cuore?"

"I…did not sleep well."

The summoner knelt in front of her and gently lifted her chin so Cuore had no choice but to look at her.

"Bad dreams?" Rydia whispered.

Cuore bit her lip and nodded, feeling tears burn her eyes again. She blinked to clear them from her vision angrily, but it had the opposite effect as one rolled down her cheek.

"Oh," Rydia whispered, scooping her into her arms. Cuore hugged her back, feeling a strange mix of relief from the contact and abhorrence that she was so fragile a creature.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" the summoner whispered, standing with Cuore still in her arms. The girl nuzzled her neck and murmured, "I…did not want to inconvenience you,"

She heard Rydia laugh softly and felt her tightened her hold briefly, "My small lady, you aren't a bother."

Cuore sniffed and pulled away, and Rydia smiled at her again, "Next time come get me."

She nodded and then felt someone ruffle her hair from behind. She twisted around and Edge smiled sadly at her, "I'm sorry you had another bad dream, I thought they were going way?"

"They were, but they seem to be quite persistent." she replied, lowering her gaze with a frown. Edge sighed and pat her back a few times, "They'll go away eventually, I'm sure."

Cuore reached over and wrapped her arms around his neck, effectively forcing Rydia to release her, and then turned back to the summoner and smiled shyly, "Can we have pancakes?"

"Yeah, can we?" Edge asked, looking at Rydia with a pitiful expression while he held Cuore.

She sighed and tossed her arms up before turning around, "Alright, pancakes it is, I suppose."

Cuore grinned at Edge triumphantly, knowing that the summoner was unable to disagree with both of them. She liked them too much for that.

Once her back was turned, he muttered, "Good choice!"

"I thought so." Cuore said, nodding, as he set her down in one of the chairs. She watched him sit and then commented, "You didn't tell us you were coming."

Rydia chuckled, back still turned, "And you thought she only harassed me,"

He ignored her and grinned sheepishly at Cuore, "Sorry, but I wasn't sure I was coming."

"You missed Rydia." Cuore said dryly, knowing she was right even without his predictable reaction. Edge flinched and averted his gaze, "Well…"

Rydia looked over her shoulder, "So, you _didn't_ miss me?"

"Stop ganging up on me." he complained.

Cuore tipped her head to one side at him and asked, "I thought it was considered rude to arrive at someone's residence without prior approval,"

Rydia laughed again and Edge frowned, "Says who?"

"You did." she said, rising an eyebrow in confusion.

He looked equally puzzled, "When?"

"When Asura and Leviathan came to Mist." she reminded him, wondering how he could have forgotten. That had only been two weeks ago.

He seemed to think about it for a second, "…Well, I guess it is rude. But I have prior approval to come here."

Cuore sat back in her chair and let her legs swing back and forth for a second before she glanced at Rydia's back.

"Rydia doesn't like it when you arrive unexpectedly." she informed him.

Edge blinked at her, "I noticed."

"She likes to spend time improving her outward appearance before seeing you." Cuore finished.

The summoner stopped stirring the pancake mix and whipped around, "Cuore!"

The little girl frowned at her reaction, "What? You do!" she protested.

Edge was snickering beside her and Rydia shook her head before pointing at the table, "Just…drink your milk."

Cuore screwed her features into an unhappy expression and pushed the glass of whitish liquid away from her. "I refuse to drink the secretions of a mammal's reproductive gland."

Edge grimaced, "Add milk to the list of things I'm not eating anymore."

Cuore glanced at him quizzically and Rydia explained, "That little fact about the four percent of eggs containing fowl fetuses really freaked him out."

He made a face, "I don't want to know that kind of stuff!"

"Humans seem rather unaware of the world they live in." Cuore remarked, shifting in her seat so she could watch the green haired woman begin to pour the pancake mix.

There was a pause and she glanced at Edge, "How long are you staying?"

She always asked him that, because his visits were unpredictable, and she liked to be prepared for when he would leave. It was hard for her to adjust to his presence only to have him leave again soon after. Sometimes she thought it would be easier if the three of them all lived in the same place, but she also knew that such a move might complicate things for everyone.

"Only until after breakfast," he answered.

"Oh." she murmured, a wave of disappointment washing over her. Her expression must have shown her discontent because Edge's face turned apologetic, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Cuore said, shrugging, "You have things to do back where you live."

The girl caught Rydia's equally disappointed look before the woman returned to cooking.

A sudden thought occurred to Cuore and she glanced at Edge again, "Do you ever sleep? You're here when it's night where you are and your there when it's night here. Adding in travel times, it seems to leave you with very little time to sleep."

He grinned, "I sleep during budget meetings."

His tone was sarcastic, but Rydia still turned around to stare at him with a shocked expression, "Edge!"

"Hey, you've never been to one of those things," he said defensively, "They're boring. Plus, they want extra money to study the migratory patterns of birds around the Tower of Babil."

He rolled his eyes and continued, "Oh, yes, I'll just go out back in the gardens and trim some Gil off my Gil tree."

"Such a tree does not exist." Cuore informed him. He nodded, "You are right, it does not."

Rydia looked worried, "Do you-"

"No," he said, cutting her off.

She frowned, "But you don't even know what I was going to say!"

"Yes, I do, and the answer is no." Edge said, giving her a knowing look. "All I want right now is pancakes."

She rolled her eyes and turned back around, "They are almost done, my little ravenous beasts."

Cuore giggled and leaned back in her chair again, "I like your pancakes."

"I still wish you'd drink your milk." the summoner said, glancing over her shoulder.

"I'll get the necessary calcium from other sources of food." Cuore assured her, taking a moment to stare with disgust at the glass of milk.

A plate was placed in front of her and Cuore smiled, sitting up and grabbing her fork, "Thank you."

Rydia nodded and sat down, mentioning as she did so, "We'll have to work on untangling your hair after breakfast, Cuore."

The little girl sighed, but nodded her head, knowing the woman was right. Her locks matted terribly and leaving them for too long only made the problem worse.

Despite Rydia's joke, Cuore did feel ravenous and dug into her pancakes gleefully, noticing after a moment that the adults attention was diverted. She looked up and noticed Edge was picking at his food.

Rydia frowned worriedly and tipped her head to one side, "Is something wrong?"

He sighed, but didn't look up, "I am sorry I can't stay longer today,"

She smiled a little and waved his comment away, "But you are staying through breakfast, so let's deal with that later."

Cuore leaned over, "If you don't want yours, then I will have them."

Edge chuckled and pulled his plate out of her reach, "Ah, I didn't say that, kiddo."

"Then stop picking at it and eat." Rydia complained, pointing her fork at him, "After the fuss you made to get food, I expect quite a few compliments over how good they are."

Edge grinned at her, "But you didn't even have time to get pretty today before I stopped by."

Her eyes narrowed, "You are wandering a dangerous line, your majesty."

"Don't I always?" he retorted.

Cuore smiled as she finished her food, enjoying watching these people that had brought her from her creation place to a strange world. Things weren't perfect but she wouldn't change it for anything.

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**Yup, pointless fluff! I wanted to write something with Cuore, and I wanted to write something sweet, and since LaF is currently angsty, that meant I needed something different. Hopefully it was a little fun for everyone to read.**


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